Strawberry Mascarpone ice cream

Imagine my happiness when I got hold of a case of fresh strawberries the other day! A sign of early spring or of globalisation? Possibly both, but in any case, I decided to transform some of the ‘red gold’ into a royal treat – Strawberry Mascarpone ice cream!

Fresh strawberries – great both in their natural form and as prime ice cream flavour

Fresh berries deserve a fresh ice cream and in my view, the Philadelphia-style (American style) ice cream base is, in all its simplicity, a perfect choice. There is no cooking involved, no eggs – only the fresh berries, sugar and cream. And in this case a couple of other, noble ingredients: Mascarpone cheese and (optionally) some balsamic vinegar.

Mascarpone is an Italian cheese from the area close to Milan, in the Lombardy region. It is made by curdling milk cream with citric acid or similar, and has a very high fat content. Dessert enthusiasts probably know it as an essential ingredient in certain Italian recipes such as Tiramisu.

Mascarpone – an Italian cheese speciality basically made by cream, and with a creamy consistency. A speciality of the Lombary region in Italy, many successfully make their own, home-made Mascarpone.

Some have characterised Mascarpone as being “thickened cream on its way to becoming butter”, which makes it perfect as an ice cream ingredient. As we all know, fat is an essential part of most ice creams, ensuring both richness in flavour and a good, nice texture. As we will see, the Mascarpone delivers on both counts!

(Leaving aside the fact that “real” Mascarpone should come from Italy, many people actually do their own Mascarpone at home. So, if you can’t find “the real thing” where you live, why not follow their example? It is supposed to be quite easy – check outthis link for some straightforward guidance!).

Macerating strawberries is easy – just chop them up roughly, drizzle over sugar and leave to “soak” for about half an hour or more.

Once the strawberries have been macerated, it is time to purée them (a hand-held mixer will do splendidly) and mix in all the other ingredients: cream, lemon juice and the mascarpone (if you are a fan of balsamic vinegar, you’ll add that now too).

Make sure to whisk well, so that the clotty Mascarpone ends up well distributed!

Churn the ice cream in your ice cream machine according to instructions. Soon, you will have a delicious batch of fresh ice cream at your disposal!

And – if you have no ice cream machine: still-freeze the base using your ordinary freezer! Go herefor helpful advise on the process.

The Strawberry Mascarpone ice cream – freshly churned and ready to be enjoyed!

Some would say that nothing really compares to enjoying ice cream fresh out of the churning. There is a lot of truth to that, and this ice cream is a good example!

Some of the freshly churned ice cream took on this shape when I began to scope it up – I thought it quite resembled some kind of ice cream dragon 🙂

The ice cream is delicious already now, but we are going to take things even further!

For an exquisite finish, we will drizzle over some balsamic vinegar – another Italian speciality.

Balsamic vinegar is a perfect complement to this ice cream. Those of you who already are convinced of this might put some already in the base. Others might convince themselves by prudently drizzling over a little over a scope or two.

The balsamic vinegar complements and enhances the natural flavour of the strawberries: Avid readers may remember that I have used it before in another strawberry ice cream recipe. The vinegar adds a certain elegant adult touch to the dessert, propelling it into the division of “fine dining”. How much should you use? I’d say you should go according to your and your guests’ preferences – start with about one tablespoon, and be ready to add some more to enthusiasts and new-found fans 🙂

Remember to dose the balsamic vinegar according to taste!

Rich, simple and delicious

The strawberry mascarpone, especially when served with a generous drizzle of noble balsamic vinegar, is a truly exquisite flavour: luxuriously rich and spoon-licking delicious. Despite being so very easy to make, the ice cream tastes great and easily comes off as being more sophisticated than it is.

Or is it more correct perhaps to say that true sophistication sometimes lies in simplicity? If that’s the case, this ice cream is a fantastic example!

About 450 gram strawberries (about 2 good cups puréed, or about 500 ml)

150 gram sugar

1-2 tablespoon(s) inverted sugar

250 gram Mascarpone cream cheese

150 ml cream

(Optionally) about 4 tablespoons red balsamic vinegar of good quality: Note - the vinegar can also be drizzled over the ice cream at the time of serving, should you prefer to make the ice cream without.

juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

Cut the strawberries in large pieces, add the sugar, shake well and let macerate for at least 30 minutes (in the refrigerator, preferably).

Purée the strawberries (a hand mixer would do fine) and mix with the cream, the Mascarpone cream cheese, the inverted sugar, and the lemon juice (and, if incorporated from the start, the balsamic vinegar). Whisk well, to ensure that the Mascarpone cheese is well distributed.

Churn in your ice cream machine according to instructions, or (without a machine) still-freeze in your freezer (see the post on making ice cream without an ice cream machine for good advise on how best to do this).

Store in a freezer-safe container and cover with plastic film and a lid.

When serving, splash about 1 tablespoon (or according to taste) additional balsamic vinegar over the scoop(s): if you already added vinegar to your ice cream base, this will significantly highlight the balsamic vinegar-touch (which otherwise would remain rather low-key, and more boost the strawberry flavour as such). If you did not add any before, you will notice that some balsamic vinegar drizzled over the scoops is a wonderful addition, guaranteed to make at least any adult tasters enthusiastic.

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9 Responses

This is a great recipe and definitely could be adapted for many different kinds of fruit flavours. I agree that an eggless base is best for fruit ice creams – it really brings out the freshness of the fruit.

I was wondering, do you think this recipe could be adapted to use clotted cream instead of mascarpone? I’m trying to create a sort of Devonshire cream tea type recipe!

Thanks – glad to hear that you like the recipe!
As to your question, I think you well could test and see – while not exactly the same thing, clotted cream also has a high fat-content. The final flavour-touch ought to be different, but I suppose that would be part of the point when inventing a Devonshire cream tea-recipe 😉 ? Best of luck, and do let me know how it works out if you try!

Macerate 450g chopped strawberries with 150g sugar and the juice of 1 lemon.

Whisk 160g cream (I used double cream for a seriously rich texture, but you could use single cream) and 227g clotted cream (random amount because that’s how much was in the tub!). Leave both to chill in the fridge for an hour or so (or overnight).

Meanwhile, crumble two fruit scones into chunks and toast. Leave to cool, then freeze overnight.

The next day, purée the strawberries then whisk into the chilled cream mixture. Churn in your ice cream machine, and five minutes from the end add in the frozen scone pieces.

I’ve made two batches already as it quickly became a family favorite! Since a 10 year old is involved, we left the balsamic as an option to put on top. Frankly, the strawberry flavor is just soooo good, I couldn’t bear to add a thing.
Thank you for sharing such yummyness with us!

Ice Cream Nation

Ice Cream Nation is devoted to ice cream and related frozen desserts in all its fascinating forms and variations. A main objective is to encourage, promote and share information on the making of home-made ice cream.

Ice Cream Nation

Ice Cream Nation is devoted to ice cream and related frozen desserts in all its fascinating forms and variations. A main objective is to encourage, promote and share information on the making of home-made ice cream.